Plating apparatus.



PATENTE@ JUNE 2, 1908` No. S89, 744.

o. G. Moms. PLATIN@ APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED l5, 1907.

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Cl G. BACKUS. PLATNG AFFARI? L-TUS.'

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 15, 1907.

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o.' QQ BAOKUS. PLATIN@ APPARATUS.-

APPLIATIONTILBD AUG. 15, 1 907.

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A TTOHNE YS "l PATENTE'D JUNE 2, 1908. G. G. BAGKUS. PLATINGAPPARATUS.'A APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 15. m07.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEiCE.

CLARENCE G. BACKUS, or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOE To ZUCKER a LEVETT a lNEW YORK, N. Y.

:eLATiNG APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern.:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE G. BACKUs, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of VNew York, borough of Man- Specilcation ofLetters Patent.

Application filed August 16, 1907. Serial No. 388,641.

hattan, iii the count v and State of New York,

articles may be added from time totiine while the mechanism is inmotion, the finished charges being removed as rapidly as the plating iscompleted;

itsaction, and `especially to enable the charges to be rein'ovedffromthe machine without the 'special attention of the operator and after thecharges have been 'texposed to the electrolytic action for an adequatelength of time;

HI. To im rove the means for gently agitating tli'e articles to beplated while the latter are in contact with the electrolytic fluid;

IV. -'l`o facilitate the entrance and removal of the charges of articlesto be plated;

V. To increase the general efliciency .of many working parts useful inelectroplating.

Reference sto be had to the accompanying drawings forming a vpart ofthis specification, in which similar Characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the complete plating apparatus andshowing the drums carrying charges of material to be operated upon, thedrums having a rotaiaT motion eacli upon its own axis, wliilecarriedalong bodily through the electrolytio fluid; Fig. 2 is aplan view of theplating apparatus complete, as shown in Fig. 1, this view showing moreparticularly the runway `for discharging the Idrums in succession astheyarrive at one end of the machine; Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross Il. Torender the apparatus automatic in,

section through one of the drumsu and theelectrolytic bath,` this viewshowing means for turning the drumsand for carrying the same bodilyalong; Fig. 4 is an enlarged section taken upon the line 4-4 OfFig. '2,looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing .how the drums aresuccessively rolled up Patented June 2, i908.

i an inclined portion of the runway and dischargedautomatically; Fig. 5is a vert-ical section through one of the drums 25 and is taken uponlthe line 5-5 of Fig.- 6, looking in the` direction ofthe arrow, andshowing the construction of the drum and themeans for supporting aswinging cathodetherein; Fig: l is a fragmentary e evation artly brokenaway and showing further details of the drum and the swinging cathodemounted therein.

A longitudinal tank is shown at 7 and contains an electrolytic fluid 8.Disposed at opposite endsl of this tank and arrangedin- LOEB oo., or

pairs are pulleys 9, 10, 11, 12, mounted upon stationary shafts 13, 14and 22-running upon these pulleys are two endless belts 15, the latterbeing disposed upon opposite sides of the tank. The shafts 13, 11 arerevolubly mounted in bearinvs 14a. 15 carry bearing blocks 16, thelatter being provided with faces 17 resting upon rails 18. Tlierails aresupported by latforms -19 provided with guides 20. Flig ts 21 faremounted rigidly upon the bearing blocks 16 and project upwardlytherefrom, each flight occupying approximately one-third of the uppersurface o the. bearing. block.

A A shaft 22 (see left of Fig. 2) is mounted in bearings 22*L andprovided with a drive pulley 23 whereby ower is applied to the endlessThe endless belts belts 15 an( pulleys supporting the same."' -1 vAnumber of drums25 are each providedl with a shafty 24 extendingtherethrough, as' will be understood from 3. Mounted within each drum 25is a cat iode 26 having substantially a Ushape and provided with annularbearings 27 which encircle the shaft 24. The materials to be plated areshown at 28 and are loose within the drum, being piled promiscuouslyover a portion of the cathode as will be understood from Fig. 3.

chain is shown at 31 and engages 'a number.`

of the sprocket-wheels 30.l This sprocket lll) chain is su ported upon aplatform 3 1 a which is groove Fig. 3-)

.The sprocket chain 31 passes over two slightly for the purpose .(see

sprocket Wheels 32, 33 located at opposite `ends of the -machine -Abracket 33a supports a shaft 34 upon which the s rocket Wheel 33 isrigidly mounted. For t 's purpose the' bracket 33a is provided With abearing 35. A drive pulley 3 6 is mounted rigidly upon tlre shaft 34forthe" p ower to the shaft 34, pnl ey 33 and chain 31. ber of staves 37arranged substantially in the form of a cylinder, as will be understoodfrom Fig. 5. v

A number of staves 38 are connected together by tie straps 39 sunkenthereinto and secured in osition relativelyv thereto by rivets .40. heseveral staves 38 thus connected together constitute la sliding door, as

. will be understood from Figs. 5 and 6. This the adrum all ofthe loosetherein-'to lbe plated.l

edges 49 v vith which the rails 47 sliding door is of a general arcuateform and is moved endwise in order to openl or close thedrum. fl Thestaves 37 are held in position by hoo s 414encircling .the same,together with tv e `door just described. The staves 37, 33 are spaced'apart slightly at 42, 'and in, order to.

prevent the escape of loose articles in conseqnenceof this spacing, thestaves are tongued and groovedas indicated in .F ig. 5. Thisconstruction permits a free circulation oi' the electrol ticiiuidthrough the bottom portion of the dyrum, and yet retains securelywithin Each drum is provided with disks 43, 44, and with heads 44a allof insulating material. 'The disks 43 are provided With necks 45, also oinsulating material, these necks 45 serving' to hold the drum securelyupon the shaft 24.

Bolts 46 extend through the disks 43, 44 and' through the drum heads,thus holding these parts rigidly together., y

' Supporting rails 47 are secured rigidly within the' top of the tankand resting upon these are anodes 48. These are of substan- 'tiallyU-shape and are' hooked 4over sharp are provided.. In this manner theseveral anodes are connected electrically together.

A runway 50 (see Fi 4) linclines slightly downwardtoward the left fromthe end of the tank 7. This runway is provided With-a urpose ofapplying.

ach drum 25 is composed in part of a numarticles 4placed ese/zas 10 ismounted Within bearings 54, these bearings beingconnected with a plate55 provided with slots 56 through which. bolts 57 extend into the suport By adjusting the plate 55 by aid of tlie bolts 57 and slots 56, thetension of the endless belts 15 may be regulated at will. A framework 58supports the runway 50, and the latter may be extended to any convenientdistance necessary for temporarily storing a number of the drums.v o

IThe operation oi my machine is 1as follows: Power is applied to thepulleys 23 and 36 in suehmanner that the upper portions of the belts l5,according to the View shown in Fig. 2, move'toward the left. The pulley36 is turned in a clockwise direction according to this view so that thesprocket wheels 3() and vdrums 35 turn to the left or in a contraclock-Wise direction. The relative speed of rotation of the drums 25, as com'ared with the speed of their translation bodi y along'the machine,maybe controlled atwill bygoverning the relative speeds ofthe twodriving pulleys 23, 36.

vSuch being vthe case, it is evident that the rotation 'of the drums canbe made sutli ciently slow to allow thorough plating of articles placedtherein, no matter if the nature of the articles to be plated or thecondi-A tion of the plating fluid mayA require considerable .exposure ofth`e articles tojthe liquid in order for the plating to .have thedesired thickness. l'herethe articles are small, the. electric currentstrong and the plating fluidin good condition, it may be desirable topass the articles through in much less time than would otherwise be thecase. This is done by simply quicliening the speed of the driving pulley36 as compared .with that of the driving pulley 23. The articles 23 tobe plated are simply duin Jed' into the drums so as to cover the cathodeas above described. The sliding doors beingjclosed and the moving partsbeing in operation, as above described, the articles to be plated aresubjected continuously to the action of the current and of theelectrolytic Huid. In doing this the articles are turned over and over,,being sometimes in Contact with the cathode, at other times out ofContact with it but in contact with other articles which engage it, orat least are in metallic communication with it. The speeds of the movingparts are s'o apportioned that the plating'of the articles in anyparticular Vdruni will be finished by the time the drum in questionarrives in the position indicated in Fig. 4. At this point the drumsreach `the incline 50, and as the pressure of the flights 2l against theshaft 24' is continued, the drum rolls bodily along the incline andthence rolls awafy, as indicated by dotted lines at the left 'o' Fig. 4.Other drums are added at the other end of the machine and from time totime atthe will of the operator, who merely places Within the drumblocks 16.

It will thus be noted that the operation of my machine is continuous,and further that g the machine'ma'y be used for electroplating articlesin large quantitiesat comparatively small expense. n

-I do not limit myself to the particular construction ofdoor employed inthe drum, nor to the precise forni of cathode used; neither do I limitmyself to the particularv shape or form of anyother part.

Having thus described my invention, I

' claim as new and desire-to secure by Letters Patent:

1L Ina latin apparatus, the combina- `tion of an e ectro ytic bath, aglurality of receptacles-adapted to be parti ly submerged within saidbath, mechanism for moving said receptacles relativel to said bath, andmeans controllable at will or removing some of said receptaclesandreplacing them by others while said mechanism is in motion.

2. A plating apparatuscom rising -an electrolytic fluid, a receptacle toe loadedwith articles to be plated, mechanism for movingy saidreceptacle continuously `so as to thoroughly expose articles containedWithin said receptaclel to theaction of said electrolytic bath, andmechanism controllable by movements of said receptacle for disengagingthe latter from said mechanism whereby it is carried.

3. The combination of an electrolytic bath,

.endless members disposed adllacent thereto,

means-for 'ropelling said en( less members, ,revol'uble films to beconnected with said endless members, and mechanism controllable bymovements of said revoluble drum for disengaging said revoluble drumsfrom said endless members. y l4. The combination ofan electrolytic bath,an endless member movable relatively thereto, means for adjusting thetension of said endless member, and a receptacle to be connected withsaid endless member and partially submer ed Within said bath.

5. The com ination of an electrolytic bath, an incline disposedpartially therein, a receptacle for containing articles to be plated,endlessmembers disposed adjacent to said bath,

- and iiights connected with said .endless members for the purpose offorcing said receptaclesu said incline. j

6. he combination of an'electrolytic bath, a drum provided withapertures for ermitting the circulation therethrough of t e fluid ofsaid bath, means for causing said drum to pendentl 'drum adapted to hohlarticles to be plated, V'mechanism for movin said drum bodily along inrelation to sai bath and to said inh clined portion for the purpose ofremoving said drum from said bath, and mechanism controllable bymovements of said drum for disengaging said drum from the mechanism formoving the same. l

8. The combination of a revoluble drum, a cathode hanging freely thereinso as to maintain by its own Weight a proximate predetermined positionindependently of the rotation oi said drum, said cathode extending to apoint close to theinner wall of said drum for the purpose of engagingarticles resting thereupon, an electrolytic bath, means for v movingsaid drunrbodily through said bath, and an anode engaging said bath forsending a current therethrough to said cathode.

9. The combination of a revoluble drum provided with apertures throughwhich an electrolytic Huid may circulate, means for pro elling said drumbodily along through sai- Huid, a cathode mounted within said drum andhanging looselyfor the purpose of maintaining a predetermined positionindeof any position assumed by said, drum, said cathode extending to apoint near the inner Wall of said drum in order to engage articlesresting tliereu on, an electroytic bath through which said drum isadapted to Bass, and an anode engagin 0 said electrolytic ath forsending a current through the latter to said cathode. I

10; In an electro-plating a paratus, the combination of an electrolyt-icEath, hollow member provided with apertures for ermitting the flowtherethrough of portions -of 'electrolytic Huid, means for moving said cdrum bodily through said bath, a swinging cathode mounted within saiddrum and extending into'close proximity to the inner surface thereof soasto' engage articles resting 110 loosely thereupon, and an'anodelocated out-

